Description of Sophia from Griboedov's comedy "Woe from Wit".
How to compare and see
The current age and the past
Fresh legend, but hard to believe.
A. S. Griboyedov
"Woe from Wit" is one of the most topical works of Russian dramaturgy. The problems posed in comedy continued to excite Russian social thought and literature many years after its birth.
"Woe from Wit" is the fruit of Griboyedov's patriotic thoughts about the fate of Russia, about the ways of renewal and reorganization of her life. From this point of view, the most important political, moral and cultural problems of the era are covered in the comedy.
The content of the comedy is revealed as a collision and change of two epochs of Russian life - the "present" century and the "past" century. The border between them, in my opinion, is the war of 1812 - the fire of Moscow, the defeat of Napoleon, the return of the army from foreign campaigns. After World War II, two social camps developed in Russian society. This is the camp of feudal reaction in the person of Famusov, Skalozub and others, and the camp of advanced noble youth in the person of Chatsky. The comedy clearly shows that the clash of the ages was an expression of the struggle between these two camps.
The emperor was terribly afraid of the penetration of revolutionary ideas into Russia - the "French infection". He could make promises at the European Diet, but in his homeland, things did not come to real steps. Moreover, domestic politics took on repressive forms. And the dissatisfaction of the advanced Russian public gradually matured, for the firm hand of Arakcheev brought external order to the country. And this order, this pre-war prosperity, of course, was joyfully welcomed by people like Famusov, Skalozub, Gorichi and Tugoukhovsky.
In the very title of his comedy "Woe from Wit" Griboyedov lays the main idea of the work, we can already understand that everything in it will refer to the concept of "mind".
Griboyedov himself said that in his works there are 15 fools for every 1 smart man. We understand that there will be one single hero endowed with intelligence, and all the people around him will be those 15 fools that Griboyedov spoke about.
I.A. Goncharov wrote about the comedy "Woe from Wit", that it is "a picture of morals, and a gallery of living types, and an eternally burning, sharp satire," which presents noble Moscow in the 10-20s of the 19th century. According to Goncharov, each of the main characters of the comedy is going through "its own million torments." Sophia is also experiencing him.
The only character conceived and executed as close to Chatsky,
This is Sofia Pavlovna Famusova. Griboyedov wrote about her: The girl herself is not stupid, she prefers a fool to a smart person ... "This character embodies a complex character, the author left here from satire and farce. He presented a female character of great strength and depth. Sophia was "unlucky" in criticism for quite a long time Even Pushkin considered this character a failure of the author: “Sophia is not clearly delineated.” And only Goncharov in “A Million Torments” in 1871 for the first time understood and appreciated this character and his role in the play.
Brought up by Famusov and Madame Rosier in accordance with the rules of upbringing of Moscow young ladies, Sophia was taught "both dancing, and singing, and tenderness, and sighs." Her tastes and ideas about the world around her were formed under the influence of French sentimental novels. She imagines herself to be the heroine of the novel, so she has a poor understanding of people. Sophia. rejects the love of the overly caustic Chatsky. She does not want to become the wife of the stupid, rude, but rich Skalozub and elects Molchalin. Molchalin plays the role of a platonic lover in front of her and can sublimely remain silent until dawn alone with her beloved. Sofya prefers Molchalin, because she finds in him many virtues necessary for "a husband-boy, a husband-servant, from the wife's pages." She likes that Molchalin is shy, compliant, respectful.
Meanwhile, the girl is smart and resourceful. She gives the right characteristics to others. In Skalozub, she sees a dull, narrow-minded martinet who "won't utter a word of wisdom" who can talk only about "fronts and rows", "about buttonholes and piping". She can't even imagine being the wife of such a man: "I don't care what's for him, what's in the water." In her father, Sophia sees a grumpy old man who does not stand on ceremony with his subordinates and servants. Yes, and Sophia evaluates the qualities of Molchalin correctly, but, blinded by love for him, does not want to notice his pretense ..
Sophia is resourceful as a woman. She skillfully diverts her father's attention from the presence of Molchalin in the living room, at the early hour of the morning. To disguise her fainting and fright after Molchalin's fall from his horse, she finds truthful explanations, declaring that she is very sensitive to the misfortunes of others. Wanting to punish Chatsky for his caustic attitude towards Molchalin, it is Sophia who spreads the rumor about Chatsky's madness. The romantic, sentimental mask has now been torn off Sophia and the face of an irritated, vindictive Moscow young lady is revealed.
Sophia is a dramatic person, she is a character in everyday drama, not a social comedy. She - just like her antagonist Chatsky - is a passionate person, living with a strong and real feeling. And even if the object of her passion is miserable and pitiful (the heroine does not know about this, but the audience knows) - this does not make the situation funny, on the contrary, it deepens its drama. In the best performances, actresses in the role of Sophia play love. This is the most important thing in her, it forms the line of her behavior. The world for her is divided in two: Molchalin and everyone else. When there is no chosen one, all thoughts are only about a quick meeting; she may be present on stage, but in fact - her whole soul is directed towards Molchalin. Sophia embodied the power of the first feeling. But at the same time, her love is joyless and not free. She is well aware that the chosen one will never be accepted by her father. The thought of this overshadows life, Sophia is already internally ready for the fight. The feeling so overwhelms the soul that she confesses her love to seemingly completely random people: first to the maid Lisa, and then to the most inappropriate person in this situation - Chatsky. Sophia is so in love and at the same time depressed by the need to constantly hide from her father that her common sense simply changes. The situation itself makes it impossible for her to reason: "But what do I care about whom? before them? before the whole universe?" You can already sympathize with Sophia from the very beginning. But in choosing it there is as much freedom as predestination. She chose and fell in love with a comfortable person: soft, quiet and uncomplaining (this is how Molchalin appears in her stories-characteristics). Sophia, as it seems to her, treats him sensibly and critically: "Of course, he does not have this mind, What a genius for others, and for others a plague, Which is quick, brilliant and soon opposes ... Yes, such a mind will make the family happy?" It probably seems to her that she acted very practical, on top of everything else. But in the finale, when she becomes an unwitting witness to Molchalin's "courtship" of Liza, she is struck to the very heart, she is destroyed - this is one of the most dramatic moments of the entire play.
This strikes at Sophia's self-esteem, and her vengeful nature is again revealed. “I’ll tell the whole truth to the father,” she decides with annoyance. This once again proves that her love for Molchalin was not real, but bookish, invented, but this love makes her go through her "million torments".
I admit, I feel sorry for Sophia, because she is not a bad girl, not immoral, but, unfortunately, she turned out to be a victim of the lies that are typical for the Famus society that ruined her.
Every person who reads this "comedy" should learn something of their own. One can simply laugh at jokes and witticisms in the direction of our nobility, while another smarter one can think about the meaning of this work and can understand what Chatsky’s true grief is.
Each person must make a choice Molchalin or Chatsky. You can be Molchalin and silently climb the stairs up. Or become Chatsky and argue all his life, fight, achieve his own, fight with the hopeless stupidity of others
The comedy "Woe from Wit" entered the treasury of our national culture. Even now it has not lost its moral and artistic power. We, the people of the new generation, understand and are close to Griboyedov's angry, implacable attitude towards injustice, meanness, hypocrisy, which are so often encountered in our lives.
Sophia Famustova is the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Pavel. A young beauty "of marriageable age", not just entering the light of high society, but originally born in it. To be more precise: in a family holding a secular society. Sophia is young and beautiful - these are her main distinguishing features. She is trained in all proper manners and conducts the standard girlish duties around the house: she reads French writers aloud, plays the piano, and receives guests with a smile and kindly in her father's house. The young lady was raised without maternal warmth (Pavel was widowed early), however, she is not deprived of care and attention. From childhood, a magnificent nanny was assigned to her, replacing her native person.
Sophia loves her father and named brother, Chatsky. By blood, they are not related to each other, but Famusov raised Chatsky at his home, replacing his untimely departed parents. The fact that Chatsky is crazy about Sofia and his feelings are far from related, the reader will learn from the comedy a little later. As for Sophia herself, it is worth noting that the girl is far from being stupid, not a coward, however, with self-determination, the young lady is really not going smoothly. Although, such behavior can be easily justified by adolescence and, of course, the influence of society, which gave Sophia a comfortable life that does not know real experiences.
Characteristics of the heroine
(Sophia. Artist P. Sokolov, 1866)
Sophia, in spite of her direct relation to the secular society, living in “famustovism”, has her own personal opinion and does not want to merge with the public. The first opposition to everything that happens around is seen in her stubborn love for self-improvement. Sofia Pavlovna - loves to read, which incredibly irritates her father. He is indignant at Sonechka's craving to re-read French literature, he considers this an incomprehensible, empty occupation, especially for a young lady.
Further, the defense against the general opinion goes much deeper: “What is the rumor to me?” Sophia speaks about their secret relationship with Molchalin. At a time when a young man frantically weighs all the pros and cons, the young Famustova shamelessly spends evenings and nights with him on secret dates, knowing full well that such relationships put a stigma on her reputation. In the century described in a comedy by Griboyedov himself, such communication between a man and a woman was considered tantamount to a rash, riotous life on the part of a girl from a family with a loud last name.
(The role of Sophia, artist of the USSR Vera Ershova "Woe from Wit", 1939)
However, no matter how her soul strives for isolation and liberation from human opinion, Sophia rationally stops her heartfelt choice. Molchalin - not because she is in love, but because it is calmer and more profitable than with the blackened Chatsky, who loves her from an early age. Sympathy - sympathy, and the rank was originally to her face, and that was used for its intended purpose.
The image of the heroine in the work
(Anna Snatkina as Sofia Famusova, One Actor Theater - project by E. Rozhdestvenskaya)
Sophia is not an evil character. Moderately open, moderately naive and oh, how good. At 18, she became an almost perfect wife and woman, not deprived of intelligence and quick wits.
Its main role in Griboyedov's work is to show that it is difficult to get away from the general opinion in a small circle. And it doesn't matter: 10 people - neighbors in your house make up this very "public opinion" or, defending your personal opinion, you will have to go against the established iron system of those who need rank, money and the mask of the most ideal person.
Sophia herself, a “front-line comrade” and beloved girlfriend of Chatsky, could not overcome the desire to live in comfort. There is no certainty that Sophia was afraid of rumors or difficulties with gossip. Most likely, this is not fuss and fear, but a thoughtful choice, with an application for a long and happy future, concerning, first of all, herself, and then everyone who stood closer.
THE IMAGE OF SOPHIA IN A. S. GRIBOYEDOV'S COMEDY "Woe From Wit".
“Griboyedov belongs to the most powerful manifestations of the Russian spirit,” Belinsky once said. Tragically dead thirty-four years old, Griboedov did not create, undoubtedly, everything that he could accomplish according to his creative powers. He was not destined to realize numerous creative ideas, striking in their wide scope and depth. A brilliant poet and thinker, he remained in history as the author of one famous work. But Pushkin said: "Griboedov has done his part: he has already written Woe from Wit." These words contain recognition of Griboedov's great historical service to Russian literature.
In "Woe from Wit" Griboyedov put forward the main social and ideological theme of his turning point - the theme of irreconcilable hostility between the defenders of the old, bone life and supporters of a new worldview, a new free life.
There are many actors in the comedy - positive and negative, but I want to dwell on the main character - Sofya Famusova. This girl does not belong to the good, mi to the bad. Griboedov unequivocally wrote: "The girl herself is not stupid." Still not such that the author could unconditionally call her smart, but it is also impossible to classify her as a fool. Otherwise, we will begin to contradict the author's will, which is primarily expressed in the very text of the play. Although it is the text that can put the reader in some difficulty. So, for example, when Pushkin first got acquainted with Griboyedov's play, the image of Sophia seemed to him inscribed "not clearly."
I want to try to understand her character. It is very complex in itself. In Sophia, “good instincts with lies” are complexly intertwined. She has to dodge and lie in order not to give out her love to her close-minded father. She is forced to hide her feelings not only because of her fear of her father; it hurts her when in things that are poetic and beautiful for her they see only harsh prose. Chatsky's love for Sophia will help us understand one truth: the character of the heroine is in some important way to match the main positive character of the whole comedy. At seventeen, she not only “bloomed charmingly,” as Chatsky says about her, but also shows an enviable independence of opinion, unthinkable for people like Molchalin, Skalozub, or even her father. It is enough to compare Famusov’s “what will Princess Marya Aleksevna say”, Molhollin’s “after all, you must depend on others” and Sophia’s remark: “What is rumor to me? Whoever wants, so judges. This statement is not just "words". The heroine is guided by them literally at every step: both when she receives Molchalin in her room, and when she
in the eyes of Skalozub and Chatsky, he runs with a cry to Osip: “Ah! My God! fell, killed! - and she herself falls unconscious, not thinking about the impression of others.
Sophia is absolutely confident in herself, in her actions, in her feelings. Although in all this, perhaps, that immediacy, the unspoiled nature of her nature, which allows us to compare her with Pushkin's Tatyana Larina, plays a significant role. But there is also a significant difference between them. Tetyana embodies the ideal character of the Russian woman, as Pushkin imagines her. Possessing the highest positive qualities of the soul, she loves an outstanding person, worthy of her in a number of qualities; Sophia's chosen one, unfortunately, is different, but this is only visible to us and Chatsky. Sophia, blinded by Molchalin's courtship, sees only the good in him. .
At the first meeting of Sophia with Chatsky, she does not show the same interest in him, she is cold and not affectionate. This puzzled and even upset Chatsky a little. In vain did he try to insert into the conversation the witticisms that had previously amused Sophia so much. They only led to an even more indifferent and slightly spiteful answer from Sophia: “Did it happen by mistake, in sadness, that you said good things about someone?” Until the end of the play, Sophia keeps her proud opinion about Chatsky: “Not a man is a snake.” The next meetings of Sophia and Chatsky differ little from each other. But in act 3, Chatsky decides to "pretend once in a lifetime" and begins to praise Molchalin in front of Sophia. Sophia managed to get rid of Chatsky's obsessive questions, but she herself gets carried away and completely withdraws into her feelings, again completely without thinking about the consequences, which once again proves to us the firmness of her character. To Chatsky’s question: “Why did you recognize him so briefly?”, She replies: “I didn’t try! God brought us together." This is enough for Chatsky to finally understand who Sophia is in love with.
The heroine draws a full-length portrait of Molchalin, giving it the most iridescent color, perhaps hoping in her soul to reconcile not only herself, but also others with this love. But Chatsky naturally does not want to listen to Sophia. For him, Molchalin is a person who is not worthy of respect, and even more so the love of a girl like Sophia. We involuntarily think: what attracted Sophia to Molchalin? Perhaps his appearance or a deep way of thinking? Of course not. The boredom that reigns in the Famusovs' house is primarily reflected in the girl's young quivering heart. The soul of a young and beautiful Sophia is filled with a romantic expectation of love, she, like all girls of her age, wants to be loved and love herself. Having unraveled Sophia's secret aspirations, Molchalin is nearby, he lives in the house. A young man of not bad appearance, moderately educated, vividly enters into the role of a lover and enchanted. Compliments, courtship, the constant presence of Molchalin nearby do their job. A girl falls in love without being able to choose or compare.
The heroine, of course, is the hardest at the end. She realizes that she has been playing the game all this time. A game, but with real feelings. Sophia begins to see clearly and understands that her own house is full of deceptions and intrigues. It is at this moment that all Chatsky's previous words begin to seem fair to her. Perhaps in the future our heroine will marry and live happily without needing anything. But this emotional drama is forever a heavy imprint of youth in her heart.
The image of Sophia (A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit")
The only character, to some extent close to Chatsky, is Sofia Pavlovna Famusova. Griboyedov wrote about her: "The girl herself is not stupid, she prefers a fool to a smart person ..." This character embodies a complex character, the author has left satire and farce here. He presented the female character of great strength and depth. Sophia was "unlucky" in criticism for quite a long time. Even Pushkin considered this image a failure of the author: "Sophia is inscribed indistinctly ...". And only Goncharov in "A Million of Torments" in 1871 for the first time understood and appreciated this character and his role in the play.
Sophia has a dramatic face, she is a character in a domestic drama, not a social comedy. She - like her antagonist Chatsky - is a passionate person, living with a strong and real feeling. And even if the object of her passion is miserable and pitiful (the heroine does not know about this, but the audience knows) - this does not make the situation funny, on the contrary, it deepens its drama. Sophia is driven by love. This is the most important thing in her, it forms the line of her behavior. The world for her is divided in two: Molchalin and everyone else. When there is no chosen one, all thoughts are only about a quick meeting; she may be present on stage, but in fact - her whole soul is directed towards Molchalin. Sophia embodied the power of the first feeling. But at the same time, her love is joyless and not free. She is well aware that the chosen one will never be accepted by her father. The thought of this overshadows life, Sophia is already internally ready for the fight. The feeling so overwhelms the soul that she confesses her love to seemingly completely random people: first to the maid Lisa, and then to the most inappropriate person in this situation - Chatsky. Sophia is so in love and at the same time depressed by the need to constantly hide from her father that her common sense simply changes. The situation itself makes it impossible for her to reason: "But what do I care about whom? before them? before the whole universe?" The heroine, as it seems to her, treats the chosen one sensibly and critically: "Of course, he does not have this mind, // What a genius for others, but for others a plague, // Which is quick, brilliant and soon opposes ... // Yes, such Will the mind make the family happy?" Sophia's "woe from wit", "woe from love" of Sophia lies in the fact that she chose and fell in love with a person in her view of the wonderful: soft, quiet and resigned (this is how Molchalin appears in her stories-characteristics), without seeing his true appearance . He's a scoundrel. Sofya Molchalina will open this quality in the finale of the comedy. In the finale, when she becomes an unwitting witness to Molchalin's "courtship" of Lisa, when the "veil fell off", she is struck to the very heart, she is destroyed - this is one of the most dramatic moments of the whole play.
How did it happen that a smart and deep girl not only preferred Chatsky a scoundrel, a soulless careerist Molchalin, but also committed a betrayal by spreading a rumor about the madness of a person who loves her? In "Woe from Wit" there is an exhaustive definition of women's education of that time, given by Famusov:
We take vagabonds both to the house and by tickets,
To teach our daughters everything, everything -
And dancing! and foam! and tenderness! and sigh!
As if we are preparing buffoons for their wives.
In this angry remark, the answers to the main questions of education are clearly formulated: who teaches, what and why. And it's not that Sophia and her contemporaries were uneducated: they knew not so little. The point is different: the entire system of women's education had the ultimate goal of giving the girl the necessary knowledge and skills for a successful secular career, that is, for a successful marriage. Sophia builds her life according to generally accepted patterns. On the one hand, books bring her up - those same French novels from which "she can't sleep." It reads sentimental stories of unequal love between a poor and rootless youth and a rich, noble girl (or vice versa). He admires their loyalty, devotion, readiness to sacrifice everything in the name of feeling. Molchalin in her eyes looks like a romantic hero:
He takes his hand, shakes his heart,
Breathe from the depths of your soul
Not a free word, and so the whole night passes,
Hand in hand, and the eye does not take my eyes off me.
This is how lovers behave in the pages of French novels. Let's remember that even Pushkin's Tatiana Larina "imagined the heroine of her beloved creators" and at the dawn of her tragic love for Onegin saw either Grandison or Lovlas in her chosen one! But Sophia does not see the difference between romantic fiction and life, does not know how to distinguish a true feeling from a fake. She loves. But her chosen one is only "serving his duty": "And now I take the form of a lover // To please the daughter of such a person ...". And if Sophia had not accidentally overheard Molchalin's conversation with Lisa, she would have remained confident in his virtues.
On the other hand, Sophia unconsciously builds her life in accordance with generally accepted morality. In comedy, the system of female images is presented in such a way that we see, as it were, the entire life path of a secular lady: from girlhood to old age. Here is Sophia, surrounded by six Tugoukhovsky princesses: young ladies of marriageable age, "at the threshold" of a secular career. Here is Natalya Dmitrievna Gorich - a young lady who has recently married. She takes the first steps, overcomes the initial stages of a secular career: pushes her husband around, guides his opinions and "adjusts" to the judgments of the world. And here are the ladies who form the "opinion of the world": Princess Tugoukhovskaya, Khlestova, Tatyana Yurievna and Marya Aleksevna. And, finally, the result of the life of a secular lady is the comic mask of the countess grandmother: "Once upon a time, I fell into the grave." This unfortunate creature, almost crumbling on the move, is an indispensable attribute of the ballroom ... Such is the successful, prosperous path of a secular lady, which any young lady strives to accomplish - and Sophia too: marriage, the role of a judge in secular living rooms, respect for others - and so on until the moment when "from the ball to the grave." And Chatsky is not suitable for this path, but Molchalin is just an ideal!
"You will make peace with him, mature in thought," Sofya Chatsky contemptuously throws. And he is not so far from the truth: one way or another, but next to Sophia, most likely it will be precisely "a husband-boy, a husband-servant from the wife's pages." Sophia, of course, is an extraordinary nature: passionate, deep, selfless. But all her best qualities have received a terrible, ugly development - that is why the image of the main character of "Woe from Wit" is truly dramatic.
The best analysis of the image of Sophia belongs to I. Goncharov. In the article "A Million of Torments" he compared her with Pushkin's Tatyana Larina, showed her strength and weakness. And most importantly, he appreciated in it all the advantages of a realistic character. One characteristic deserves special attention: "This is a mixture of good instincts with lies, a lively mind with the absence of any hint of ideas and convictions, confusion of concepts, mental and moral blindness - all this does not have the character of personal vices in her, but appears as common features of her circle".
Bibliography
Monakhova O.P., Malkhazova M.V. Russian literature of the 19th century. Part 1. - M.-1994
The image of Sofia Pavlovna Famusova is complex. By nature, she is endowed with good qualities. This girl is smart, proud, with a strong and independent character, with a warm heart, dreamy. These features are clearly manifested both in her behavior and in her language. ( This material will help to correctly write on the topic The image and character of Sophia in the comedy Woe from Wit. The summary does not make it possible to understand the whole meaning of the work, therefore this material will be useful for a deep understanding of the work of writers and poets, as well as their novels, short stories, stories, plays, poems.) People’s Artist of the USSR A. A. Yablochkina, one of the best performers of the role of Sophia, says this about her: “Doesn’t the special language of Sophia’s mushroom-eaters, so different from the language of other characters in Woe from Wit, reveal her image? Her speech clearly shows that, despite the fact that she is seventeen years old, this is ... not the speech of a girl, but the mistress of the house, accustomed to general submission. She has been without a mother for a long time, she feels like a lady. Hence her imperious tone, her independence. At the same time, she is smart, mocking, vengeful: no doubt she is a girl with a great character. In her speech there is something from the serfs, she constantly has to deal with them, and, on the other hand, from French madams and French books.
Sophia constantly talks about various emotional experiences: “pretending to be in love, demanding and distressed”, “deadly coldness”, “he will sigh from the depths of his soul”, etc.
Her "mind is manifested in statements of a generalizing nature: "Happy hours do not watch", "Just think how capricious happiness is, but grief awaits from around the corner," etc.
Sophia was brought up under the guidance of French governesses. Hence the abundance of gallicisms1 in her speech: “to tell you a dream”, “to share laughter”. On the other hand, there are also vernaculars in her language, for example: “you deigned to run in”, “to laugh”, “to the prikmaher, the tongs will catch a cold”.
The good features and natural inclinations of Sophia could not be developed in the Famus society. On the contrary, a false upbringing instilled in Sophia a lot of negative things, made her a "representative of generally accepted views in this circle, accustomed her to lies and hypocrisy. I. A. Goncharov in his article" Million Torments "correctly says about Sophia:" This is a mixture of good instincts with lies, a living mind with the absence of any hint of ideas and convictions, confusion of concepts, mental and moral blindness - all this does not have the character of personal vices in her, but appears as common features of her circle.In her own, personal physiognomy, something is hiding in the shadows then his own, hot, tender, even dreamy. The rest belongs to education.
Sophia drew ideas about people, about life from observations of the life of people of her circle and from French sentimental novels, which were then very popular among the nobility, especially among girls.
It was this sentimental literature that developed dreaminess and sensitivity in Sophia, according to which she painted the hero of her novel - a humble, sensitive person. It was these novels that could make her pay attention to Molchalin, who in some of his features and behavior resembled her "favorite heroes." Played a well-known role in her passion for Molchalin and another circumstance that Goncharov points out: "The desire to patronize a loved one, poor, modest, not daring to raise her eyes to her, to elevate him to herself, to her circle, to give him family rights. No doubt, in this she smiled at the role of ruling over a submissive creature, making him happy and having an eternal slave in him. this was the future "husband-boy, husband-servant - the ideal of Moscow husbands!" There was nowhere to stumble upon other ideals in Famusov's house.
In Sofya Goncharov sees "the strong inclinations of a remarkable nature, a lively mind, passion and feminine gentleness", but "she is ruined in stuffiness, where not a single ray of light, not a single stream of fresh air penetrated." For these good qualities of Sophia, Chatsky loved her, and it was all the more painful for him to see in her, after a three-year absence from Moscow, a typical representative of the Famus circle. But Sophia also experiences a tragedy when, having overheard Molchalin's conversation with Lisa, she sees the person she loves in a real light. According to Goncharov, "it is, of course, harder for her than everyone else, even harder than Chatsky."
